


and you tasted like poison

by DolewhipDay



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: Experimentation, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Kissing, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 03:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7027165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DolewhipDay/pseuds/DolewhipDay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Contains major spoilers for the book 'Return to the Isle of the Lost'.</p>
<p>Kids didn't date on the island. No one did, for the most part. But Mal and the closest thing she had to a friend were still curious.</p>
<p>She'd come to regret that later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and you tasted like poison

Mal could remember it all too well.

Dating wasn’t done on the Isle of the Lost, but some of the older kids stilled fooled around with each other. It wasn’t about an emotional connection that way; just a good time. Some people – like Jay – thrived on this, but Mal had never been interested.

Well, maybe she was a little curious, and that was where Mad Maddie came into the picture.

Mad Maddie, daughter of Madam Mim, was the only person Mal really tolerated. She couldn’t call Maddie her friend, because using that word was one of the ultimate signs of weakness among the villains. But a weak part of Mal – the part that came from her human father, she supposed – would sometimes forget, and think of Maddie as her only friend.

So, really, when Maddie approached Mal with the request, the half-fairy wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to alienate Maddie, but the idea was, well… _Mad_.

Maddie wanted to kiss her.

“Oh, come on, don’t flatter yourself,” Maddie giggled as Mal’s mouth fell open. “I just want to know what it feels like. Nobody’s exactly jumping at the chance to kiss a loony little witch.”

Mal was normally independent and ferocious, and not the kind to be pressured into doing anything. Had it been anyone but Maddie, Mal would have made a scathing comment in refusal, at the least. Still, despite all her pretense, Mal was only a thirteen year old girl, and she secretly _liked_ when people treated her as a peer and not just someone they were afraid of. The only other person who did that was Jay, really, and their relationship was more antagonistic than Mal and Maddie’s.

“Don’t be a whimp, Mal, let’s try it,” Maddie taunted. The wording of the request as a challenge sealed the deal. Mal would _not_ be called a whimp. She let out an agitated sigh, though, so Maddie would know this was a great inconvenience for her. That way, Maddie owed her one. (Not that villains were particularly reliable when it came to honoring such debts.)

So there they were, in Maddie’s bedroom – they never spent time in Mal’s, because Maleficent saw no need for her daughter to waste time with Maddie or anyone else – and suddenly the air was heavy with uncertainty. Neither girl was lacking in bravado, but that didn’t change that they had no idea what they were doing.

Maddie moved as if to initiate, but just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Still, that got Mal moving – it wouldn’t do for Maddie to start this and get the upper hand. ( _Was_ there an upper hand to have in kissing?) It started off simply, with Mal just touching her lips to Maddie’s and pulling away quickly. But after a few repeats of that awkward routine, the two teens found themselves figuring out their way.

Their tongues touched, and Mal scrunched up her nose. Maddie’s mouth was bitter and acidic. Was that a witch thing?

After no more than thirty seconds, Mal pushed Maddie away, which Maddie didn’t fight. “There,” Mal asked, “happy?”

Maddie shrugged. “I’m informed, anyway.”

“Good for you.” It bothered Mal, a bit, that Maddie seemed so unimpressed. It wasn’t like she planned on kissing Maddie again, but Mal liked to be good at things. Even stupid things. “I’m going home.”

As she took the walk home, it really sunk in that she’d _kissed Maddie_. Her first kiss. It had certainly been unpleasant, but not in the gross, sloppy way she’d expected. No, it was unpleasant because it felt like a power struggle, and one she wasn’t sure she’d actually won. The fact that she couldn’t just push the kiss from her mind was… Concerning.

But time went on, and eventually, Mal barely ever thought about the kiss. Well, at least not on a conscious level. She didn’t ever make the connection, but the negative feelings associated with her first and only kiss were probably the reasons she wouldn’t kiss Ben, even three years later.

Then, when Mal and her friends returned to the Isle of Lost and ran into Maddie, Mal found herself looking back on the kiss in a different way. The competitive nature of that interaction was so different from what she had with Ben. There was something… Familiar about it. She slipped back into darkness so easily with Maddie, and part of that had to be because what was once a negative memory was now nostalgic. Going back home could do that, she supposed. It didn’t matter, though, she loved Ben. Didn’t she?

Mal didn’t have much chance to worry about it. They were back on the Isle with a job to do, after all. But the confused feelings flaring up inside of her did make Maddie’s betrayal sting that much more.

Once they were back in Auradon and Mal had a chance to think over the events of the past couple of days, she decided the whole thing had been stupid. She’d been an idiot to associate anything positive with Maddie; especially with their kiss. But she’d be even more of an idiot if she let that experience ruin what she had with Ben.

She didn’t act right away. She still needed her time – but after three years, she didn’t need _much_ more. One day, she and Ben were sitting beneath a tree in the Auradon Prep courtyard, studying, when Mal slammed her book shut.

“I’m ready to kiss you.”

“Oh?” Ben asked calmly. He and Mal had never discussed Mal’s aversion to kissing, but there had been an unspoken understanding.

“Yeah.”

“If you’re sure.” He wasn’t sure what to say. Of course he wanted to kiss Mal, but he’d hate to pressure her.

“I am. I really am.”

It was a gentle, innocent kiss, but that was just fine for a start.


End file.
